MUSIC
........... T ...........
>
Nearer I am to fine
A conversation with Holly Near
by
A
s a fem inist m usician who is interested
in the many ways m usic fosters political
awareness and social change, I wel
com ed the opportunity to interview
Holly N ear in advance o f her latest swing
through O regon. S h e has released more than
20 albums, sh e’s been perform ing for more
than 30 years, and her list o f collaborators
and awards is long and distinguished.
T h e generational divide that exists in the
lesbian com m unity parallels my own rela
tionship with the music o f our m ovem ent(s).
My experience with fem inist music started in
the early ’90s. I was heavily influenced by the
radical consciousness raising that was (an d is)
a part o f the punk scenes o f riot grrl and
queercore.
I learned about “womyn’s music” through
conversations with Phranc, with older women
musicians and through my own curiosity about
women-run studios and record labels. I saw my
friends build and nurture the infrastructure of a
punk community throughout the Northwest in
the early ’90s, and I tried to understand the
relationship between this and what 1 was learn
ing about the legacy.
But I kept getting stuck on the aesthetics.
Although I could understand the political simi
larities o f the two scenes, I constantly was con
fronted by the differences in the music.
A nd I don’t really care for “womyn’s music.”
Generally, it is nonconfrontational folk music
that takes few aesthetic risks. Musically, it
doesn’t speak to me.
However, N ear reminded me that there are
deep, political connections between women’s
experience across time and place and that our
differences must be honored rather than
ignored or discounted. Her music links feminist
work with the traditional folk music o f political
struggle in ways punk never can.
And punk addresses issues that folk music
S arah D ougher
never touches. We have a lot to learn from
each other.
Sarah Dougher: What do you feel your
political focus is these days?
Holly Near: I, as an artist, have always tried
to keep adding ideas and issues to the music so
as to express a sense of our whole selves. I don’t
think it is useful for me to be a single-issue
singer/activist. My audience is diverse. People
are working on many fronts in their lives. My
hope is that before a concert is over, folks have
heard a song they can relate to that in some way
supports the work they do and that they have
heard one song that challenges their thinking,
inviting them to take a step forward. That said, I
think we need to be very aware of the needs of
children. That, by extension, demands sensitivi
ty to class, race, gender, sexuality, health, art,
physical and mental difference, language.
SD: What is the best show you have been
to in the past six months?
H N : I go to see the young people at my sis
ter’s school, SP A C E (School for the Perform
ing Arts and Cultural Education). I love
watching the kids dance. They are taking on
many issues and ideas through their work, and
I am always moved by their courage and ener
gy. Through the arts, they are meeting one
another, crossing over cultural barriers put in
place by their ancestors. They are looking at
language and how it does hurt. They are learn
ing to be friends, to be outspoken, to have
opinions, to change their opinions. They chal
lenge the adults in the community.
SD : Do you think music still provides a
strong medium for feminist consciousness
raising?
H N : 1 continue to be changed by art and
music. The people in my audience continue to
write me and say that they are
changed. But look at it his
torically. Every political
movement in this coun
try has had a music:
civil rights, labor,
youth. And let’s look
at feminism. The
music, affection
ately called
“womyn’s
music,” was a
main lifeline
for women
as we
unveiled
the
secrets so
guarded in
the ’50s. It is
hard to
remember that
when we
began to
sing these
songs,
most peo
ple were
not using the
words breast
cancer, alco
holism, lesbianism,
incest— we had to say these
things to ourselves, then to each
other, then to the world. Now,
these ideas are discussed on day
time television and in sitcoms.
People don’t necessarily agree, but
they are talking, and the debate is
on the table, not hidden in the
attics. Our music was an essential
distributor of ideas, support, community,
courage, humor and love. Literally hundreds of
thousands of women found their way to them
selves through these songs. When listening to
the songs on Simply Love, the women’s music
collection that I just released, it is hard to
remember that the ideas expressed were new
on the mouths of society. There was great love
for what we did. There was great hostility. That
was one way we knew we were doing great
work. The dominant system is still afraid of
basic feminism and womanness. There is still
discomfort in “mainstream room" if one identi
fies oneself as a feminist. Som e will treat it as a
joke, some will say feminism is dead, some will
be on guard. Powerful thing, being an outspo
ken woman. Young women today are enjoying
the benefits we worked for. That is lovely.
What greater gift could we get than to enjoy
their pleasure.7 And when they discover that
the struggle for women’s rights here or around
the world is not over and can be taken away in
a heartbeat, I trust some of them to rise up, just
as we did. And they will be more prepared
than we were. They will not reinvent the
wheel; they will improve on it.
SD : Do you think that new technolo
gies grant possibilities for the empower
ment of women in the music industry? If
so, what are they?
H N : I d o n ’t know much about this. Web
Holly Near and folk music legend Ronnie Gilbert
sites allow com m unication without buying
unaffordable ads, and most artists can now
afford to make a hom e C D . T hese two
Holly Near,
then and now
things em pow er
artists. However,
touring now is
extrem ely hard.
A irfares are high, m any o f the
producers o f political music h ave burned out,
clubs h ave closed. A n d the political m ove
m ents that supported m any o f the outspoken
artists o f the ’60s and 7 0 s are in transition,
st) we d o n ’t feel their support as we did then.
It will be interesting to see w hat h appens up
ahead. I think we forget how im portant little
things can be. T h ere are still lots o f women
out there who d o n ’t know there is or ever
was fem inist and lesbian music. T hey still
walk in to my concerts “by accid en t” and
com e to me after, amazed and grateful. S o I
suggest that every tim e we go to a fem inist
concert or event or discover a C D that we
like, take som eone along for the ride. It is a
good way to build a com m unity, build a
m ovem ent or save a life. I think both Simply
Love and Edge Ithe new C D sJ are wonderful
tools/gifts. It is why I do this work— to give
people music to live by. I can n ot buy costly
advertising. I need you, the people out there
doing this work, to pass this music on. It can
do an am azing am ount o f work on its own if
it gets out there. ¡ n
appears 8 p.m. Nov. 10 at Ash
land’s Unitarian Fellowship, Fourth A venue at
C Street; 7 p.m. Nov. 11 at Eugene’s Agate Hall
on the University of Oregon campus; and 8 p.m.
Nov. 12 at Portland's Aladdin Theater, 3017 S .E.
Milwaukie Ave.
HOLLY N
ea r
SARAH D o u g HER is a Portland free-lance
writer, musician and educator. Her records are
available at www.mrlady.com, and she can be
reached at sarahdougher@hotmail.com.